Granit Xhaka will miss Arsenal's next four games after being sent off for a two-footed challenge against Burnley on Sunday.

The Swiss midfielder saw red for the second time in the league this season after he was given his marching orders during Arsenal's 3-2 defeat of Swansea at the Emirates in October. Coincidentally, both of his dismissals have come at the hands referee Jonathan Moss.

Because it is his second straight red of the season, Xhaka will be unavailable for four games instead of the standard three.

Xhaka is set to miss four games at a key time in the season (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

This means that the Gunners will be without the deep-lying midfielder for next weekend's trip to Southampton in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Xhaka will also be absent when the Gunners host Watford and Hull City in the Premier League, but perhaps the most crucial game he will miss is the trip to league leaders Chelsea on February 4.

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With Santi Cazorla still a long way away from returning to the first team and Mohamed Elneny currently away at the Africa Cup of Nations, the only saving grace for Arsene Wenger is that French midfielder Francis Coquelin returned to full training during the week and was fit enough to come off the bench on Sunday.

But by the time he returns from suspension, Xhaka will have missed a quarter of the Gunners' league games so far this season, his first at the club.